The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-06-30
ALL But HANGED.
RePri"ved While Standing with "a Rope
About His Neck.

The fact OF any one standing i'm the pres
ence of death for n moment has a strange
fascination about il. and his fellowmen
are anxious To know what his thoughts
and feelings were as he expected To Ice
ushered into eternity. Ii has been my
i'll luck Ia look squarely into the ewes of
grim death on several occasions, and NV
good luck 10 preserve my life against the
fate which seemed to hunger for II: and
some of the incidents may prove inter
esting to the general reader.
During the seige of Yorktown by Nc
Clellan, | was detailed from my com
pany To do scout work. While NV re-
ports no doubt went to the commander
himself, / reported directly to "A division
commander. whom | never met without
being forced to notice the fact that he
was the worse for liquor. Later on i'm
the war there was chief of scouts. but
at this time there were half "A dozen of
us taking orders direct from this Cen
eral and reporting back Ia him in per
son. On my third trip was very nearly
captured 10y the tonfederates, and IN the
squeeze l got rid of all my paper, i'm
Guiding the pai which gave me en-
trance and exit to the Federal lines.
Therefore, when | finally reached the
Federal picket post. | had nothing 10y
which To identify myself. The officer in
command of the reserve picket post was
a smart Aieck. who thought To add to
his Importance by refusing To believe my
story and sending me To the headquar-
ters of the brigade. There | was re-
garded as "A veritable Confederate spy,
and the General i'm command was eX-
tremely pompous i'm his demeanor to-
wards me. / can remember the conver-
sation as vividly As If il took place yes
terday. BY the time | reached his tent
my arms had been tied behind me, and
was looked upon AS very dangerous
fellow.
so you are the d spy captured
down there at the picket. shouted the
General as | stood before him.
II am no spy, sir, | replied.
''Oh no. of course not: but don't you
talk back Ia me, you Internal traitor
Who sent you spying into our camp
Il am Union soldier, sir. and belong
to -"
..Shut up. you scoundrel. Don't
think that you can stand there and lie to
me. What rebel command do you be-
long to-
was detailed -
stop lac shouted. while his face
grew crimson. while the truth may
not help you. hate To see yon stand in
the presence of death with "A lie upon
your lips. Guard. remove him.
l was taken away and confined in a
guard house, but not for long. In about
an hour | was taken TO another tent in
the same encampment, and | entered II
To find four or five general officers present.
Ii was Ia be a drumhead court-martial.
As afterward learned, a report of my
capture had been sent to headquarters,
| MI 81 laIlan had r,-tiialy ssfIFN him
by drumhead court-martial; and If found
guilty hang him at sunrise. drum
head court-martial il "A dignifie1 farce.
1t is convened to convict. The idea ~
that the victim is guilty, but must he
disposed of according to the regulations
of the War Department. The fact that
openly and boldly approached the
Union picket, and that ] was coming
from the enemy's lines carried no weight
i'm my favor. The officer of the picket
said l was certainly "A spy, and that set
tied it, When they finally condescended
to hear my explanation ] gave my name,
and stated that the General To whom
made my reports would identify me. !
stood i'm neither awe nor fear, knowing
how easily l could be identified. Some
of the members of the court were OPP
posed to giving me this chance for my
life, but il was finally decided To dis
patch am orderly ana ad djourn the court
| for an hour. | was conducted back a.
the guard house To wait, and when again
taken before the officers | expected Ia he
discharged without delay. You can
therefore imagine my feelings when
was informed that Gen. --- utterly
| repudiated me. My regiment and com
pany were "A dozen miles away and felt
| that il would be useless To ASK further
| delay. I'm ten minutes l was found
a fl.atl
| rise, and before midnight scaifold had
been prepared.
WHY had Gen. denied my iden
tity? The only excuse l could offer fol
| him was that he was drunk when thu
| messenger reached him. and such proved
| to be the case. Reused from his stupid
sleep. he had winked and blinked at th'
| communication and made out portioI
of it, and then flung il down with thu
assertion that he knew no one of m,
name. The gallows was erected within
"A few rods of where l was confined
Some beams and boards were takei
from an abandoned house, and the struc
| ture was very rude affair. i coul'
plainly hear every blow struck, and tn
fellows engaged i'm putting IL up seeme'
| to want me to overhear their unfeelinl
remarks About an hour before day
light a curious change took place IN me
| began to wonder if j was really tb
man claimed To be, and il wasn't fl
teen minutes before i had come To III
conclusion that | was some one else-i
fact. a spy, as they declared. This ide
took such firm lodgment in my MINI
that | would have honestly denied m
real identity. | felt that / had bee
fairly tried and honestly convicted, an'
that / ought to suffer death. There wa
no particular terror in the idea. tn
only thought about hanging which mad
me cringe was the fall through the traI
| 1t seemed to me. as i reflected on u
| that the pain would he something awfn
but | was consoled at the same time wit
the reflection that it would soon be over
Half an hour before sunrise ! wa
| brought out and escorted to the foot q
the gallows. Ii | remember right ther'
was about half a company of infantr
ON the ground. Only few OF the 50
diers in camp were out To witness th
proceedings. They had graciously pr,
vided me with spiritual consolation !
the person of a chaplain, but, thong
the ,od man talked to me for ten min
| utes. L did not hear one wor
i'm twenty lac uttered. ! was all the tim
wondering how long before it would
| over. and every minute of delay mad
me impatient. When the time can
for me 10 mount the scaffold ! was real
. glad of il. There was nothing in ti
sight of the dangling rope to chill IN
l took my place on the trap, the cbaPla
uttered prayer, and then solids
quickly tied my elbows and ankJes an
pulled "A cap over my head. IL was
matter of seconds now, and said To M.
self:
! 1T is coming now-good-by To all
will soon be over"
They had to cut a rope underneath :
, spring the trap. My sense OF bear'i
| was 80 acute that located the man wi
| sfo1,d NTH AN Az ready tn do IhIa Serkl d